We are considering getting a goat or two for milk. Problem is, I'm not sure whether my family will like goat milk. If we were to try the goat milk available at the grocery store, would the milk fresh from the goat taste similar? I don't want to go through the trouble of getting a goat and THEN learning that nobody will drink the milk.

In comparison to cow milk bought at the store, how would you describe the taste of fresh goat's milk?

I'm so glad I can answer this question My family is used to store bought cow's milk. We have been into dairy goats for less than a year. I can honestly tell you there is no recognizable difference in fresh goat's milk than there is in store bought whole cow's milk (there are a bunch of unrecocognizable health benefits though). Mind you, our goat is a pain in the neck to milk, and there are other problems such as diet and cleanliness, but the taste is basically the same.

I agree, clean healthy goat milk taste just as good as cows milk, in some goats it has a nice sweetness to it, and a richness from the cream mixed in, that makes store bought milk taste a bit watery.

My husband says it taste like the liquid coffee creamer in restaurants.

Keeping everything clean is important, I use my goat milk unfiltered and unchilled (we don't have a fridge) and it taste good all day setting out on the table with a cloth over it to keep out dust and flies.

What they eat and the breed can make a difference, and sometimes even sisters from the same mom and dad can give milk that will taste different, but most of the time if the milk from the mom or sister taste good, the milk will taste good.

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Thumper/in Okla.
Growing a Homestead from the dirt up.

Do NOT try that stuff at the groceries and think that's what goat milk tastes like! That stuff is truely nasty.. kinda like licking the back end of a goat after you take a big swig.. :no:
I had already purchased my goats and hadn't yet got them home or ever previously tasted thier milk when the neighbors so kindly came by with a pint of the stuff (they knew I was getting goats..) I gagged when I drank it and thought "what have I done?? no one's going to drink this!!" but all the kind folks out here in goatland assured me that there's no comparison.. they were so right and I'm so glad I didn't have to return my now beloved girls!!!

Goats milk is great but... there was some adjustment for me...I was used to drinking 2% so the goats milk was very rich and creamy when i first started drinking it but other that that, I love it and think it is great. We have 4 dairy goats and 2 currently milking and we sell all of our extra milk to 4 different families. They love it too.

A good point was just made. Fresh goat milk is very compareable to fresh cows milk. If you are used to 2 percent store milk, there will be a difference. Store milk has most of the butterfat removed. (cream)
You could put chocolate in it until you get the thoughts of goat milk out of your minds.

Ours tastes just like cows milk. But we have some friends who have had freshly milked goat's milk and they said it had a strong goaty flavor. I'm not sure why that is though whether it's breed or feed or what.
Patt

Different goats and different breeds can taste well different . What they eat can also affect the taste. If possible taste the milk from the goat or at least one from the herd you plan to buy from. So far my Saanans milk surpasses my alpines.

I got into goat years ago because I have a child that was beef allergic. Soooo I went to the store and bought a carton of goat milk...thought I was gonna gag! it was the most awful tasting stuff!!! tasted just like a goat smelled!

Well that turned me off....until I was mentioning it to someone that had dairy goats. She invited me over and milked her goats...later that day when the milk was nice and cold she gave me a glass. I was so amazed at how sweet the milk was.

I have had goats every since. Having 2 sons close in age I had the whole neighborhood here to play. Not one child ever said "Ewwww this is awful, each child drank their share of milk". When my kids had dinner at others peoples house, they would come home and comment about the milk and how thin and awful it tasted.

My DH (the D doesn't always stand for Dear) was mildly surprised at his first glass of goat milk. Sitting at dinner he twisted his face up and took a sip. Goat milk is the only milk he will drink. At family dinners, he drinks water.

I have talked to many women and what several of them have done is mixed the goat milk with store bought cows milk. Each night mixing more goat and less cow until the family was drinking all goat milk. They never knew.

find someone in your area that is milking their goats, ask them to try it or purchase a gallon from them. Take it home and 'slip' a glass to the family at dinner...see for yourself!

We only drink fresh milk...less than 1 day old...strained and chilled for 1 hour in the freezer. Proper handling protects the milk from off flavor. The old stuff goes to the veal calf and bottle kids.

Our milk is thick creamy nutty sweet. For me its like having a sinful treat! This is from the Nubians. My dad likes his mixed half (store cow)and half goat. My children love it. They eat lots of pudding pops, ice cream, and cream pies during the summer!

My Toggy tends to be bitter so I let her raise her own babies...plus she hates to be milked...I only milk her when demand is high and hers goes to the critters not to the table.

When I was very young I had goats milk, but I couldn't remeber it much. My dad kept saying how it tasted like cows milk, but we tried commercial goats milk once and we ended up throwing it out after 1 sip.

Last week we got our first milking goat, Cream. My wife was very skeptical about the milk, but I cooled, filtered and tasted it, and it's great. It has a slightly different flavor, but if I placed whole milk and goats milk side by-side I'm not sure you could tell which was which. (goats milk is the creamier one)

Now I had some milk that had gone bad a couple days ago, and GROOOOOOOOSSSSSSS. It tasted like a wet goat that rolled in the muck. Ick, I still have that flovor is my mouth. Ick!

We've been enjoying our very first goat milk for three weeks now, Nubian. It is so good, sweet and creamy. It is thicker and creamier of course because it's whole milk, we were also used to 2% cows milk.

That is not what fresh goat milk tastes like. If handled properly it's so delicious. The yogurt we've made, we taste tested it against Dannon Non Fat, which has been a staple in my fridge for years. Can't tell the difference (except of course there IS fat in mine .

You didn't say which kind of goat you were getting. I have had milk from Saanens, Nubians and some crosses. They were similar, but each a little different. The flavor vascillates with diet and collection techniques. Be sure to chill it quickly after a clean collection.

Different goats and different breeds can taste well different . What they eat can also affect the taste. If possible taste the milk from the goat or at least one from the herd you plan to buy from. So far my Saanans milk surpasses my alpines.

Patty, I agree with this...we have alpine and Nubian and the nubian milk has much more cream and is prefered in our house. The alpines in good too but for some reason, the nuby wins out.

I have also hear that is you let your does run with your bucks, that the milk taste can be affected, or more strong. I do not have a buck so i can not confirm this myself but it is something to consider.

I raise nubians. My family thinks that the milk is much better tasting than store bought milk. IT is much creamier.
I make all of our butter with it, all of our cheeses. ice cream , evcerything. You will find , that your dishes that you would use milk in, will be creamier, and taste better.
My family is now spoiled. This last spring, we dried up our does, because they were going to deliver, this early summer. Well, the wait was a rough one, we bought sore bought milk. 2 of us got sick on it. and we ended up throwing it out. same with the butter. The store bought butter, had a very slight moldy taste to us, and very salty. WE whip our fresh cream into butter, and we never salt it. So we could taste the difference right away.Before breediing, and drying off this winter, we are freezing lots of milk. So we won't be left with out our own.
Once you have fresh goats milk, and you handle it correctly, you will never want it from a store again. It is so much better.
I hope this answers your questions. It is like store bought, but 100 times better.